You’re most welcome D. I relate to so much of what you wrote, and am grateful for being on the other side of the pain (for now) and wanting to encourage you that self-compassion helps heal the pain. It feels good to be more accepting of myself including the good, bad, and ugly.
I appreciate and accept this gift, B. Will hold onto it. With tape, I mean rope. LOL.
very powerful insights. the living daily life with courage and joy and criticism…I writr with my ankward english. Thank for share. And the needed humor !
This is beautiful, Diana. The wording is so true in how one lives one’s life. It really is much like sitting down to eat and then how one eats. The poem is thoughtful and profound. You are quite good in getting deep with you words and thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time, Yvonne. I was wondering how you and D are doing. People rally when you’re in crisis but I think there comes a point where people don’t want to know you drank grief. At least not if it’s regular fare. They don’t know what to do with that.
Hope you are taking care of yourself.
Thanks, Diana. I appreciate that you asked about us. We are doing ok. Not fantastic but ok. You are correct and none of my friends inquire about my son. And I don’t mention him either. I don’t speak of my health unless someone asks. It is boring to me to speak of things that I alone must deal with. I do have two nurse friends that ask about me and we talk or see each other on average every week or so. My friends and I all stay busy with various interests so there is not a lot of chit chat. I still intend to explore tapping- just have not found time nor the energy to investigate what it might do for Danny. Take care, Diana. Love, Yvonne
Very, very sweet of you, M. I appreciate that bc I lightened the tone to bring it out. I’m all right (enough) but there’s the loneliness of hurting, isn’t there?
It was a good stretch for you. New job as IT Manager at a small manufacturer, dealing with years of neglect has been soaking up my creative force. This will either be a bust or a magnum opus for my career. I feel the latter, but time will tell… thanks for asking… hope you are well and thriving!
IT geek and poet. Keep on truckin’!
Beautiful yet haunting words Diana. I do so appreciate the rawness of this post and I can certainly relate to it. Hang in there my friend, just give me a holler if you need more tape, I have this super duper strong strong stuff, guaranteed to hold!
You’re too much, V. You always receive me graciously, no matter how I tumble in late, socks mismatching. Hope the engine in service will be up and running soon.
Wonderful poetry. I love your rhymes in casual places and your amazing images for keeping body and soul together. I relate, especially coming through rough spots and realizing what it taught me
Has been of surprise to me that many can relate, though it shouldn’t be. I love the feedback, Ina. I can only imagine the rough places the years have taken you through. Keep shining.
Hi, Diana. Sometimes these days I feel like using barbed wire instead of scotch tape. The wire would keep everything together, but the barbs would keep everyone else away until I could deal. Hugs, friend. We all need to be here for each other.
‘You might learn something about despair and strength and secrets in between’ – I love this last line particularly and its call to listen. Sometimes we just need to express that and have someone be there to witness it.
People can be so quick to speak. But it would’ve been far better for someone who did this last wk to have kept quiet than to try and comfort me. I found what tumbled out of his mouth hurtful, if not offensive, and I know he didn’t even see it. Why don’t people get there is a time for everything, including a time for words?
Not sure why you’re sorry. =) A temptation of writers’ is to attempt eloquence, but it’s good to let go sometimes and see what happens when you strip it down. I appreciate the thoughtful feedback, Albert.
Sorry mostly because good poems don’t need comments, much less assessments. They just need to be said, or sung. Over and over. Yours is one of those. Maybe next time I’ll just say something like, “I’m saying your poem,” or “You can say that again!”
Lo L. (I prefer the assessment.) ;
🤗
Loved this. I especially liked the turn to the music trope.
Alas no, but I sing in a choir that brings me great joy.
Tough times, D, and my heart is with you. Much better than my mind. Preaching never, or at least rarely, helps. Simply listen. But your words have to help those who can’t express themselves so well. And oh, have you thought about duct tape? 🙂 –Curt
I’m almost afraid to reply because sometimes I miss the real point. Please accept my apology if that is the case. After 64 years of missed dreams and not a day of perfection on my side of things, I have learned how to be empathetic, kind, and accepting of myself and others with all our imperfections. Just Saturday someone I know set up a time for us to meet, as many others before him. The reason was for me to hold him accountable for things in his life he does not like. After a lengthy conversation, I think he got the idea, of what he was hoping for, that I would not judge him but at the same time give him the support for which he is looking.
I guess the thing in your blog that stirred my spirit was the comment about preaching the Bible. I know nothing of what you believe, right or wrong. I will say that Christianity is not just a set of rules but a book about forgiveness, love, kindness, long suffering, and mercy. In fact, the person who understands, as myself, just how far short he falls on matters of life, he can only have compassion for those who feel the pain as well.
Your blog was good, honest, and transparent. That is what I have come to expect from you. I hope you find my words to be kind.
I knew someone was going to trip over that line but I kept it in, not because I don’t want to hear the Bible (you might be surprised by the depths of my theology) but because people, well-meaning people, make it trite and don’t take the time to imagine what it might be like on the other side. They diminish both my pain and the Word. We need more Christians like you, friend. I appreciate every word.
Beautiful poem expressing very deep thoughts. Love the tape metaphor and “I am under construction”. Who is not? I also like how you express grief and suffering because in the end there is always hope. I admire how you have put all these words together. Love the triple rhyme here: “…Yes, and rope/ and hope and a new trope/ in the mirror…”. Good job!
Yes, I would love to meet someone who isn’t in the works. =) And it’s in these imperfections we can add to one another’s grief. How beautiful when we come to the table humbler and more compassionate for our humanness. Thx.
You are welcome. I also want to thank you for your encouraging feedback on my blog. All I do is write for myself or create other things like a dance, etc. I have this inner need. It is therapy and what comes from the heart. However, if I can share my humble writing attempts with others and they like my posts then I am happy. It rises one’s self-esteem, doesn’t it? It is a wonderful feeling to find out someone has liked one of your posts and perhaps has even become a new follower of your blog. You immediately feel the need to find out who they are and what they write about. Thanks again! I am traveling to the Bay Area from August 9 until August 23. I will be in Oakland and San Francisco most of the time. Am I wrong or do you live in the area? If so, it would be great to meet you in person. I cannot cover certain distances because I do not have — as oddly as it may sound to any American — a driver’s license.
Am not in that area. Safe travels.
Beautiful and so broken and hurting, Diana. I also sense an underlying fortitude and the resilience of dreams. I like the stretch of the form.
I L O V E everything about this. The pulling and stretching of living life in words and the spaces between them. I have connected with this piece. Wonderful.
Too much pain and ironies! Follow your dreams… get that masterpiece lying around the corner somewhere published already! Lest I shall die of sorrow before you do 😛 Rejections and criticisms are part and parcel of living. All the best!
” get that masterpiece lying around the corner somewhere published already! Lest I shall die of sorrow before you do 😛” Ha ha ha ha. I doubt your sorrow could match mine but that is awfully sweet of you. You should know criticism is the last thing I am afraid of. =) Fierce encouragement noted. Thanks.
I love the structure of this poem. The placement of the words and the spacing between the letters–the disjointedness–highlights your opening line of holding it all together with Scotch tape. The pulling and unraveling we experience with that tape is a metaphor for life! What this brings to mind for me is how we all are looking for that one thing that will help hold us together, and make everything alright. Sometimes the search does make us “forget how to live” because we ignore our experiences along the way. We then realize that maybe not feeling like we have it all together is a fact of life and not something we need to escape from. Sometimes imperfection is freedom.
“Sometimes imperfection is freedom.” I am so very free, then. =)
Such a thoughtful read, N. I love how you bring it home: “not feeling like we have it all together is a fact of life and not something we need to escape from.”
Wonderful poem, Diana.
The chaotic world, unlike when I was a child, does find its way into our refuge; our home.
One need but take a moment…listen for a heart beat and feel a full breath. Center then returns.
-Alan
You sure struck a chord there, magnificent poet… “just listen to the people’s sadness” it really does deafen the sound of breaking, as the number of comments your ‘Late to the party” evoked. From this humble scribbler, late to your party in responding to the beauty of your poetic expressions, in your economy of words style, on which I am finally in the process of feasting (in this your case, truly better late than never) that method and said style, in a rather abstract form, remains an absolute my favourite. I shall happily look forward to reading you from now on, dear poet par excellence… Chapeau, cher dame poète !
I feel like a cross between a beauty pageant queen holding onto her fresh flowers and a professor bowing to her audience. =) I appreciate the effusive praise. Something about its coming from a Frenchman. 😉 I only wrote from the heart – one Mafia eye on the economy. Thank you for the follow, Jean-Jacques. *bow*
A Holistic Journey 
Oh very cool ~ I love it
Thank you, Jack. =) Not my usual style but we should stretch ourselves, I think.
Clever and honest way to acknowledge the pain of life. I accept you just the way you are Diana. Hugs, Brad
Humor always helps. And you’re such a dear, Brad – although I doubt you’d feel the same if you saw me day in, day out. =)
You’re most welcome D. I relate to so much of what you wrote, and am grateful for being on the other side of the pain (for now) and wanting to encourage you that self-compassion helps heal the pain. It feels good to be more accepting of myself including the good, bad, and ugly.
I appreciate and accept this gift, B. Will hold onto it. With tape, I mean rope. LOL.
🙂
Timely…
Mmm. I’m sorry. Hope it helped you feel a bit better to know you’re not alone.
It did indeed 😉
very powerful insights. the living daily life with courage and joy and criticism…I writr with my ankward english. Thank for share. And the needed humor !
Lots of criticism. Appreciate the thoughtful feedback, WD.
Nice!!!
Thank you. It was one of my quirkier pieces and I’m glad it’s well received. Whew!
This is beautiful, Diana. The wording is so true in how one lives one’s life. It really is much like sitting down to eat and then how one eats. The poem is thoughtful and profound. You are quite good in getting deep with you words and thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time, Yvonne. I was wondering how you and D are doing. People rally when you’re in crisis but I think there comes a point where people don’t want to know you drank grief. At least not if it’s regular fare. They don’t know what to do with that.
Hope you are taking care of yourself.
Love,
Diana
Thanks, Diana. I appreciate that you asked about us. We are doing ok. Not fantastic but ok. You are correct and none of my friends inquire about my son. And I don’t mention him either. I don’t speak of my health unless someone asks. It is boring to me to speak of things that I alone must deal with. I do have two nurse friends that ask about me and we talk or see each other on average every week or so. My friends and I all stay busy with various interests so there is not a lot of chit chat. I still intend to explore tapping- just have not found time nor the energy to investigate what it might do for Danny. Take care, Diana. Love, Yvonne
Love the words and format.
Thanks, M. Sometimes simple works best, it seems.
Some days there isn’t enough scotch tape is there – you’ve caught the feeling well.
Thk u, J. It’s looking pretty crazy here, tape and yarn and staples. Some days I’ll take anything to fasten me to where I need to be.
This is wonderful!
Thanks, Holly. I’ll take it. =)
It is fantastic, I love it. ❤
Wow!! Wonderful how you express yourself! I love the “staples” line.
Great job! ❤
Aw, always helpful to know which words…Thanks, J.
Xxxx
🙂 You are welcome!
Diana, love how you express yourself in words. Holding life together with tape, staples and rope a great visual. 🤗 Christine
The simplest things can say it best. Thanks much, Christine.
There are days when I can’t even find the tape. I love writing because you can be as honest as you want to be. Great post… jc
Oh, JC. I know Life has run you through the mill. Here…*toss tape* I’ve stocked up.
Love,
D.
Diana-I hope you are OK. This is wonderful. On any given day, any and sometimes all of the above will do just fine, thank you.
I’m hanging in, my friend. Tape, thumb tack, glue, I’m game. We do what we have to. =) Thanks.
Wow! I can feel the pain.
Very, very sweet of you, M. I appreciate that bc I lightened the tone to bring it out. I’m all right (enough) but there’s the loneliness of hurting, isn’t there?
Love,
D.
Just love that first line. Scotch tape is stronger than many of us think. Buttery sauce on the skin. Mmmm, butter 😊
The line just came to me and I knew it was time for a poem. Scotch IS multipurpose, isn’t it? =) The buttery and its nuances were irony, of course.
Scotch and anything tape comes in handy in so many ways. Just like a sewing kit. Some will never understand, though… 🙂
Getting to use all my senses to enjoy this prose – much thanks!
Aw, love it. This was so different from my other poetry I wasn’t sure how it’d go over. Thanks.
Now that’s a sad lament. I’m sure you have it all together and can deal with any situation you face in life. 🙂
With the staples and rope…and seat belt…*pulling, testing* yep, I’m good. =)
A little ee cummings in us all !
ee was pretty far off the chart, too much for me but yes, this was a bit of a stretch of poetry muscle. =) was wondering how you’re doing, peter.
It was a good stretch for you. New job as IT Manager at a small manufacturer, dealing with years of neglect has been soaking up my creative force. This will either be a bust or a magnum opus for my career. I feel the latter, but time will tell… thanks for asking… hope you are well and thriving!
IT geek and poet. Keep on truckin’!
Beautiful yet haunting words Diana. I do so appreciate the rawness of this post and I can certainly relate to it. Hang in there my friend, just give me a holler if you need more tape, I have this super duper strong strong stuff, guaranteed to hold!
(Is that a metaphorical sermon?) LOL. That would be allowed. I could never shoot yOu down. Ok, Super Tape noted.
No, no metaphorical sermons from me! Just good strong tape on the way if needed.
Ha ha ha. I was teasing. Ok. I’ll pay shipping.
^ ^
Deal!
I love this because it is raw and real, and it also captures emotions I understand all too well. Hope you are doing well, Diana! 😘
I am taking in oxygen. =) I appreciate knowing why you took to this. Thanks.
Xxxx
D.
Just breathe, and please take good care. xo
And it’s less lonely finding that many relate.
I am not a poet; I wish I were. But some days I have felt as if Scotch tape were holding me together–just barely.
The more I hear from you, Beth, the more approachable you get. =) Look how far you’ve come!!
Maybe late to the party, but you always show up. Brilliant piece, D.
You’re too much, V. You always receive me graciously, no matter how I tumble in late, socks mismatching. Hope the engine in service will be up and running soon.
Working on it…all the time, D.
Ah, wonderful prose and spot on for most days except I’m off to the Emerald Isle for two weeks so not feeling the need for staples!😍
I’m glad it’s a happy season for you, Pam. I know you needed the reprieve and the darker stuff is never far. Go enjoy a hot air balloon ride. =)
Thanks, Diana!😘
Wonderful poetry. I love your rhymes in casual places and your amazing images for keeping body and soul together. I relate, especially coming through rough spots and realizing what it taught me
Has been of surprise to me that many can relate, though it shouldn’t be. I love the feedback, Ina. I can only imagine the rough places the years have taken you through. Keep shining.
Hi, Diana. Sometimes these days I feel like using barbed wire instead of scotch tape. The wire would keep everything together, but the barbs would keep everyone else away until I could deal. Hugs, friend. We all need to be here for each other.
Sounds like you got this.
Hence my asking for no preaching, just listening. I’ve no doubt you will find your way.
Xxxx
D.
‘You might learn something about despair and strength and secrets in between’ – I love this last line particularly and its call to listen. Sometimes we just need to express that and have someone be there to witness it.
People can be so quick to speak. But it would’ve been far better for someone who did this last wk to have kept quiet than to try and comfort me. I found what tumbled out of his mouth hurtful, if not offensive, and I know he didn’t even see it. Why don’t people get there is a time for everything, including a time for words?
I don’t know. I wish they did…
… A time for words
Love the sound of this 🙂
The poem really takes off starting at
“I am late to my life, my joy, and the feasting — ”
down to that haunted phrase “and smile for people”
Everything else is powerful self-talk, the voices of a real person using words as a release,
but here we can hear a shared soul stirring.
(Sorry. I meant to say, I like the poem, and I really like this part.)
Not sure why you’re sorry. =) A temptation of writers’ is to attempt eloquence, but it’s good to let go sometimes and see what happens when you strip it down. I appreciate the thoughtful feedback, Albert.
Sorry mostly because good poems don’t need comments, much less assessments. They just need to be said, or sung. Over and over. Yours is one of those. Maybe next time I’ll just say something like, “I’m saying your poem,” or “You can say that again!”
Lo L. (I prefer the assessment.) ;
🤗
Loved this. I especially liked the turn to the music trope.
You understood the reframing. Do you play an instrument, A?
Alas no, but I sing in a choir that brings me great joy.
Tough times, D, and my heart is with you. Much better than my mind. Preaching never, or at least rarely, helps. Simply listen. But your words have to help those who can’t express themselves so well. And oh, have you thought about duct tape? 🙂 –Curt
You beat me to it, Curt. Was thinking of you today. Ha ha ha. *grabs duct tape*
Ok. I’m all set. Two brains better than one.
🙂
I’m almost afraid to reply because sometimes I miss the real point. Please accept my apology if that is the case. After 64 years of missed dreams and not a day of perfection on my side of things, I have learned how to be empathetic, kind, and accepting of myself and others with all our imperfections. Just Saturday someone I know set up a time for us to meet, as many others before him. The reason was for me to hold him accountable for things in his life he does not like. After a lengthy conversation, I think he got the idea, of what he was hoping for, that I would not judge him but at the same time give him the support for which he is looking.
I guess the thing in your blog that stirred my spirit was the comment about preaching the Bible. I know nothing of what you believe, right or wrong. I will say that Christianity is not just a set of rules but a book about forgiveness, love, kindness, long suffering, and mercy. In fact, the person who understands, as myself, just how far short he falls on matters of life, he can only have compassion for those who feel the pain as well.
Your blog was good, honest, and transparent. That is what I have come to expect from you. I hope you find my words to be kind.
I knew someone was going to trip over that line but I kept it in, not because I don’t want to hear the Bible (you might be surprised by the depths of my theology) but because people, well-meaning people, make it trite and don’t take the time to imagine what it might be like on the other side. They diminish both my pain and the Word. We need more Christians like you, friend. I appreciate every word.
Beautiful poem expressing very deep thoughts. Love the tape metaphor and “I am under construction”. Who is not? I also like how you express grief and suffering because in the end there is always hope. I admire how you have put all these words together. Love the triple rhyme here: “…Yes, and rope/ and hope and a new trope/ in the mirror…”. Good job!
Yes, I would love to meet someone who isn’t in the works. =) And it’s in these imperfections we can add to one another’s grief. How beautiful when we come to the table humbler and more compassionate for our humanness. Thx.
You are welcome. I also want to thank you for your encouraging feedback on my blog. All I do is write for myself or create other things like a dance, etc. I have this inner need. It is therapy and what comes from the heart. However, if I can share my humble writing attempts with others and they like my posts then I am happy. It rises one’s self-esteem, doesn’t it? It is a wonderful feeling to find out someone has liked one of your posts and perhaps has even become a new follower of your blog. You immediately feel the need to find out who they are and what they write about. Thanks again! I am traveling to the Bay Area from August 9 until August 23. I will be in Oakland and San Francisco most of the time. Am I wrong or do you live in the area? If so, it would be great to meet you in person. I cannot cover certain distances because I do not have — as oddly as it may sound to any American — a driver’s license.
Am not in that area. Safe travels.
Beautiful and so broken and hurting, Diana. I also sense an underlying fortitude and the resilience of dreams. I like the stretch of the form.
Appreciate the keen read, D. Stretch, yep. ‘S my life.
Xxx
I L O V E everything about this. The pulling and stretching of living life in words and the spaces between them. I have connected with this piece. Wonderful.
I L O V E the feedback, every word. Thx, Ali.
Too much pain and ironies! Follow your dreams… get that masterpiece lying around the corner somewhere published already! Lest I shall die of sorrow before you do 😛 Rejections and criticisms are part and parcel of living. All the best!
” get that masterpiece lying around the corner somewhere published already! Lest I shall die of sorrow before you do 😛” Ha ha ha ha. I doubt your sorrow could match mine but that is awfully sweet of you. You should know criticism is the last thing I am afraid of. =) Fierce encouragement noted. Thanks.
I love the structure of this poem. The placement of the words and the spacing between the letters–the disjointedness–highlights your opening line of holding it all together with Scotch tape. The pulling and unraveling we experience with that tape is a metaphor for life! What this brings to mind for me is how we all are looking for that one thing that will help hold us together, and make everything alright. Sometimes the search does make us “forget how to live” because we ignore our experiences along the way. We then realize that maybe not feeling like we have it all together is a fact of life and not something we need to escape from. Sometimes imperfection is freedom.
“Sometimes imperfection is freedom.” I am so very free, then. =)
Such a thoughtful read, N. I love how you bring it home: “not feeling like we have it all together is a fact of life and not something we need to escape from.”
I’m right beside you!
Thoughtful comment, Nikkele. Couldn’t agree more with that.
Wonderful poem, Diana.
The chaotic world, unlike when I was a child, does find its way into our refuge; our home.
One need but take a moment…listen for a heart beat and feel a full breath. Center then returns.
-Alan
You should post this on your space, Alan. =)
I appreciate the reminder. *listening hard, feeling*
This is very beautiful, and moving. I love it.
I feel what you felt. Thanks so much. =)
You sure struck a chord there, magnificent poet… “just listen to the people’s sadness” it really does deafen the sound of breaking, as the number of comments your ‘Late to the party” evoked. From this humble scribbler, late to your party in responding to the beauty of your poetic expressions, in your economy of words style, on which I am finally in the process of feasting (in this your case, truly better late than never) that method and said style, in a rather abstract form, remains an absolute my favourite. I shall happily look forward to reading you from now on, dear poet par excellence… Chapeau, cher dame poète !
I feel like a cross between a beauty pageant queen holding onto her fresh flowers and a professor bowing to her audience. =) I appreciate the effusive praise. Something about its coming from a Frenchman. 😉 I only wrote from the heart – one Mafia eye on the economy. Thank you for the follow, Jean-Jacques. *bow*
Effusive and all, from the heart and intended, for it is even less than deserved… says, your words, the Frenchman, via Canada. Do love your work!
Interesting thoughts, interesting way of presenting. 🙂
I smell the happiness Over There. Guilty as charged, some days:). I’m still finding gems from you . . .
Guilty for smelling, or for being among the happy?
For the “Over There” part. Instead of creating it Right Here.